Album: Main Attrakionz – 808’s & Dark Grapes III

06.30.15

The Album:

“808s III doesn’t sound particularly ‘cloudy’ at all,” explained Pitchfork in their review of the Main Attrakionz‘s 808s & Dark Grapes III. “The album is bombastic and baroque, certainly not lo-fi; if anything, it evokes sunlight streaming through parting clouds, a sudden moment of clarity.” The duo of MondreM.A.N. and Squadda B built a cult following from 2009-2013 as architects of the cloud rap sub-genre, which was rooted in bass-heavy, lo-fi production. After a short hiatus stemming from creative differences, the Main Attrakionz have returned with 808s & Dark Grapes III, which Pitchfork called “an album about perseverance, patience, getting your mind right. Mostly, it seems, it’s about redemption.”

Debuted by Stereogum, the Main Attrakionz’s 808s & Dark Grapes III is produced in-full by Friendzone and is released via Neil Young‘s Vapor Records. “The cloud rap pioneers tackle all of life’s gambles,” said FACT Mag earlier this month in their premiere of “Shoot the Dice.” Previously, The FADER announced the project in May when they debuted the Kreayshawn-directed “Ain’t No Other Way” video. “If you listen to 808s III you’re definitely listening to Main Attrakionz, but if you compare these songs to our other songs, you’ll see the difference,” Squadda B told HotNewHipHop in an interview, while MondreM.A.N. added that “we kinda took it a little more serious as a group when we were recording it, trying new styles, trying new song structures, new shit. This is just the result of that, we’re just gonna keep on running with this new shit.”

The Main Attrakionz will be performing at the Studio at Webster Hall in NYC on July 23rd. More tour dates to be announced soon.

Listen to 808’s & Dark Grapes III: https://soundcloud.com/808sanddarkgrapes3/sets/808s-and-dark-grapes-iii

Check out the Stereogum premiere: http://www.stereogum.com/1812289/stream-main-attrakionz-808s-dark-grapes-iii-stereogum-premiere/mp3s/

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Please contact Michelle or Rory if interested in talking with Main Attrakionz.

Main Attrakionz Background:

Hailing from North Oakland, California, Squadda B and MondreM.A.N. of Main Attrakionz have been rapping together for most of their young lives. Early on, a shared love of rap music led them to put school on the back-burner and focus on producing music with a talented crew of local artists. Over the ensuing 7+ years, (and with an added assist from the world wide web and social media) Main Attrakionz have cultivated a unique and passionate sound, combining opaque atmospherics and lived-in reality rhymes, that stands as one of the most interesting and refreshing in the crowded and fractured world of today’s rap underground.

A relentless stream of solo and collaborative releases in 2011, including I Smoke Because I Don’t Care About Death, The Shady Bambino Project, Dope Since ’91, and their most definitive statement to-date, 808s and Dark Grapes II, have turned heads not only among those with an Internet connection and an interest in rap music, but have landed them acclaim from publications such as Pitchfork, The New York Times, Complex Magazine, The Fader, SPIN, and Fact Magazine.